North Wilkesboro Speedway, which hosted NASCAR Cup Series races from 1949 to 1996, will host the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race. Ever since its closure, fans have pleaded for high-end racing to return to the racetrack.
Plans were originally to use North Wilkesboro Speedway as a grassroots revival track using lower series and possibly squeeze in a NASCAR Truck Series event. However, the decision to host the NASCAR All-Star Race at the track moves the effort into high gear.
The NASCAR All-Star Race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) from 1987 to 2019 and was traditionally a week before the Coca-Cola 600 at CMS. The track also hosted the inaugural All-Star Race in 1985.
NASCAR moved the All-Star Race from Charlotte to Bristol Motor Speedway in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The race moved the following year to the Texas Motor Speedway to replace the race date taken from that track that was given to the Circuit of the Americas.
Now, the All-Star Race will return to North Carolina at a track that has not hosted a NASCAR race since 1996.
This 2015 story from the WCNC Charlotte archive looks at the then-abandoned North Wilkesboro Speedway and its storied history in auto racing.
MORE ON THE 2023 NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR NORTH WILKESBORO: www.wcnc.com/article/sports/n...